Things Like This
by Lady Electra
Summary: All Gossard wanted to do was sleep, eat and grab a hot shower. As always though, things didn't go as planned.


Things like this weren't suppose to happen. Things like this were suppose to be relegated to the limitless fantasy of the human mind and bad writers who made their living off dime-store romance novels. Things like this weren't meant to happen at all in reality so why did Gossard find himself sitting on the floor in a supply closet with what he considered to be the most beautiful woman in the world with him?

The day had started out as they all had for the past 2 years. The squad had been out running missions for 15 days straight with minimal downtime between drops. On this day though, upon their return to the Valley Forge the most coveted award was awaiting them. 24 hours of R&R. It was a Godsend, everyone was stressed and exhausted.

Gossard had his plans already made. 20 of those hours would be spent sleeping. The remaining four would be divided between chow, a hot shower and writing to his family. He hadn't been expecting Dizzy to jump out from behind a locker and ambush him as he removed his powersuit.

In typical Dizzy fashion she asked if anyone wanted to join her for a party.

"Does she have an off switch?" Max asked his voice weary as he looked at the energetic trooper.

"Believe it or not," Higgins remarked, "She's a lot calmer now then when this all started."

Doc chuckled a little. "Just shoot her. It'll be the only way to get her to stop."

Dizzy rolled her eyes before looking at Gossard, "And what about you?"

He froze for a second, carefully choosing the words of his response. Gossard wanted to tell her about his plans like he had done 100 times before, but for whatever reason, Gossard's brain was not connected to his mouth.

"Sure," He found himself saying.

Grinning, Dizzy hooked an arm through his and began to lead him out of the locker room to wherever the party was.

It was being held in one of the numerous repair bays that were on the lowest levels of the ship. The music was loud, or as loud as it could be with someone's personal music player hotwired into the local speaker system.

Letting go of his arm, Dizzy headed into the mass of MI and Fleet personal that were moving on the makeshift dance floor.

"I am too old for this." He told himself, quickly making a B-line for the exit only to feel his right arm not following the rest of him.

"And where are you going?" Dizzy was holding onto his wrist. "I thought you wanted to party with me?"

Oh no. She was giving him _that_ look. The look that could get her anything she wanted from anyone and she knew it too. Gossard was doomed.

He had to think fast in order to minimize the damage from the attack. "Oh, I do." Now Gossard had never thought of himself as stupid, in fact he thought of himself as very intelligent, even brilliant on occasion when he had a particular stroke of technical genius. So it was no surprise when the logic portion of his brain commanded him to tell her he was exhausted and now planned to sleep, eat, shower and sleep more. Once again though, his brain and his mouth were not connected.

"I do Dizzy. I was just going to find us something to drink." He kicked himself that was not what he had wanted to say.

Smirking, Dizzy wrapped her arms around his and started to pull him back towards the dancing masses. "Oh no, I'm not letting you get away from me."

That had been the final nail in the coffin. Gossard had to surrender to his fate; there were no longer any other options. He was confident though, if he was going to go down, he would be going in a very large blaze of glory.

Pulling him into the center of the dance floor, Dizzy began to move to the music and tried to encourage him to move as well.

Gossard had never been one for dancing. It brought back bad memories of awkward advances and pimple pocked faces of high school. He had been labeled a geek early in his school career so no girl ever gave him the time of day. Not that it mattered; on a Saturday night he would rather take apart his father's power tools and try to put them back together than go out and party. Besides, as Doc had so eloquently put it once "White men have no beat."

There didn't seem to be a way out of it though so Gossard tried his best to move with the music.

"You can't dance to save your life," Dizzy grinned.

"Well it's not like they covered this in basic training."

Shaking her head, Dizzy wrapped her arms around his waist and forced him to follow her lead as she moved on the dance floor.

Suddenly Gossard realized just how close they were to one another. He quickly removed himself from her embrace, ignoring Dizzy's look of shock, and promptly made a move for the exit.

Dizzy started to chase after him and caught up with him a few feet from the door. "Goss, what's wro-."

"This." He said quickly, turning to face her. "This is all wrong. I shouldn't be messing with the Lieutenant's girl."

Her expression turned sour and Gossard could see the flame of rage spark up. In one swift motion she landed a firm right cross on him. "I am not Rico's girl."

His mind still reeling, Gossard shook his head and looked at her. "What the hell was that for?"

Dizzy was still glaring at him. "For saying I'm Rico's girl! I waited around enough for him. He missed his chance."

"So I'm just the next guy in line? Who's after me, Doc, Higgins, Brutto?" He growled, "How do you think that makes me feel?"

Dizzy looked ready to hit him again but took a step back. Her expression softened a little and she turned to go. "You're right. It was wrong of me. I'm going back to the barracks."

Now it was Gossard's turn. Reaching out, he grabbed hold of her wrist.

"Dizzy, believe me. I'd go about this with a lot more grace if I knew how." As he spoke to her, he could see something glint in the corner of her eye. Sighing, Gossard pulled her into a hug. He still cared for her and all he wanted was for her to be happy. After a few seconds he let her go and managed to muster up a friendly smile.

Having taken the time to get a hold of herself, Dizzy smiled back. "Thanks Goss."

"Any time."

Nervously, Dizzy scratched the back of her head. "Um-how are you gonna explain that?" She indicated his cheek.

"I'll just tell them I walked into a door." He grinned, "It's me. They'll believe it."

That earned a chuckle from Dizzy and she leaned up to give his bruised cheek a kiss.

What happened next was like an outer body experience. Gossard could see and feel what was happening, but he couldn't stop himself.

As Dizzy pulled away, he gently took her by the shoulders and held her in place as he pressed his lips against hers. Gossard wanted her to know exactly how much he cared for her and exactly what she meant to him. He was expecting Dizzy to give him another punch but this would have all been well worth it for him.

What he hadn't been anticipating was for her to actually kiss back.

That's when things got a little bit foggy. He could remember leaving the repair bay and heading down the corridor. He could remember Dizzy finding an unlocked supply closet and pulling him inside. He could remember her pinning him against the shelving and laughing as a few rolls of toilet paper fell on them. He remembered her ordering him to kiss her again and at that point, Gossard's memory failed him.

They didn't actually do anything beyond kissing. They had wanted too but the risks if they had gone any further would have been too great. Now he just sat against the wall, holding Dizzy in his arms as she dozed. At least one of them was getting some shuteye. He stroked her shoulder and gave her temple a kiss. Even if they didn't end up together when the war was over, he still wanted to be close with her.

Suddenly though, he heard an all too familiar voice steadily growing closer. Franticly, Gossard tried to rouse Dizzy as he grabbed his shirt. Okay the claw marks he could feel on his back would be hard to explain, but hopefully he could come up with something.

"Dizzy, wake up!" He hissed, shaking her shoulder. "This is no time to sleep."

"Huh?" She opened her eyes and heard the voice as well, bolting up in an obvious state of panic. "What are we going to do?"

"Hide!" Gossard pushed her behind another shelving unit and spun around just as the door opened.

"If I ever catch the idiot that thought keeping supplies this far down was a good idea I am going to-Gossard?" It was Zim. He was standing in the doorway with a perplexed expression on his face.

Of all people, it had to be him. Somewhere, some Deity was laughing at this predicament they had been placed in and was watching to see what would happen for its own sick amusement.

Gossard tried to force himself to be calm and stood at attention in front of the imposing Sergeant.

"What are you doing in here Gossard?" He asked. Zim's tone made it obvious that things were serious.

Gossard paused for a split second and looked around. Seeing the toilet paper rolls on the floor, he reached down to pick one up.

"I came to get toilet paper, Sir."

Zim's face was a flat affect so Gossard had no idea if he was buying it. "You're getting toilet paper, without your shirt on?"

Dizzy snickered a little from her hiding spot.

Hearing that, Zim came into the storage room. "Who's here with you?"

Sheepishly, Dizzy came out of her hiding spot and stepped up alongside Gossard. "Flores, Sir."

This was it, thought Gossard. They were dead. There wasn't any escape from this. He closed his eyes and waited for Zim to start a tirade.

Zim remained apathetic and silent as he looked at the two. It was like catching a couple of high school kids in the back seat of their car. He had to try hard not to smirk.

"Don't tell me," He began, "Looking for toilet paper too?"

She gave a nod. "Yes, Sir."

Zim's eyebrow twitched slightly. "Right, I'm going to leave now, but I'll be back in ten minuets. By then, I hope you will have gathered enough toilet paper and be gone."

The two nodded and gave a firm, "Sir, yes Sir!"

Turning around, Zim left with a shake of his head. As soon as the door closed behind him, Dizzy turned to Gossard and started laughing.

"That was close." She sniggered, "It could have been worse."

"Worse, how can this be worse?" Gossard ask, pulling his shirt on.

"It could have been Higgins." She told him. "Zim won't say anything, he's not like that."

Gossard smirked a little and ruffled her hair. "Yeah, that would be worse. Let's go before he comes back."

"We still have five minutes."

"Let's not push our luck." Grinned Gossard as he opened the door, "Ladies first."

Grabbing a roll of toilet paper off the floor, she gently bopped him on the forehead before heading out. "Was toilet paper really the best thing you could come up with?"

"I was under the gun, what do you want from me, Dizzy?" Gossard asked, following her out. "I thought it was pretty good."

She nodded. "Yeah, I guess it was." Turning around, Dizzy kissed him. "I'll catch you on the bounce. I'm going to grab a shower."

Nodding, Gossard smirked as he watched her walk away. "Catch you on the bounce." He responded.


End file.
